Treasury & cash management
1,243
UK fi rm IT Governance discovered this many security incidents in 2021, which accounted for 5,126,930,507 breached records. That represents an 11% increase in security incidents compared to 2020.
IT Governance
Collaboration is key
Effective cybersecurity relies on many different tools, from the purely technological to the common sense of people with priority access to sensitive information. From the treasurer’s perspective, there are some simple and clear principles that can be adhered to in order to make cybersecurity part of their daily routine. “Valid, effective controls are the key,” says Faller. “As every firm is different, controls need to be tailored, but they must at a minimum ensure that a single person cannot instigate a start-to-finish treasury activity.”
Furthermore, whatever controls are in place, cybersecurity policies outlined, or technological tools put to work to protect a network – compliance must be more than a box-ticking exercise. It should be part of the routine thinking of any senior executive or, indeed, anyone with access to a network that could become an avenue for fraud.
“System monitoring, compartmentalisation, and strong cyber defences are great but they can be defeated by a single action by a human. It is a constant struggle.”
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“From above, companies need to be focused on creating environments specific to the risks they face, rather than the often used off-the-shelf approach,” says Faller. “They need to do the basic grunt work of understanding the size, nature and relevance of risk, and develop plans to mitigate, manage or accept the risks inherent in their organisations.”
As Faller stresses, relationships with partners, suppliers and customers can be a vector for attack, so measures to combat cybercrime cannot be taken in isolation. There needs to be a discussion around the paths of communication between companies – all of which can create vulnerabilities. Collaboration with banking and technology partners is also essential, as all stakeholders in the payments industry face a constant battle to keep up with the innovative tools hackers are using to break the locks on corporate networks. Acting together, in short, is the only way that corporates, banks, IT providers, treasurers and information security professionals can hold back the tide of cybercrime. Cybercrime is a game in which the rules are always changing – but with a tight defensive line, in which treasurers help call the shots, there is no reason why the bad actors cannot be kept at bay. ●
Finance Director Europe /
www.fi nancedirectoreurope.com
ImageFlow/
Shutterstock.com
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